iPad mini 6 Rumours: A15 Chip, USB-C and Smart Connector

Apple’s upcoming iPad mini refresh, code-named J310, will feature the same next-generation A15 processor as this year’s iPhones (as opposed to an A13 chip, as previously speculated), a USB-C port instead of Lightning, and a magnetic Smart Connector — reports 9to5Mac, citing sources close to the matter.

The same sources claim that Apple is also working on a more powerful variant of the A15 System on a Chip (SoC), the A15X, to power higher-end iPads in the near future.

Back in May, renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the iPad mini 6 would be delayed until later this year. Both Kuo and Bloomberg now expect the redesigned iPad mini to launch sometime in the fall.

Apple is looking to do away with the Lightning port on its next iPad mini in favour of USB-C, much like it did with the iPad Pro and the latest iPad Air. The 2021 iPad mini will also feature Apple’s magnetic Smart Connector, which suggests that Apple plans on offering Smart Connector accessories for the device.

The redesign is expected to include major changes, including slimmer bezels, the possibility of the Home button being removed, and a design language similar to that of the latest iPad Air — what Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman says will be “the biggest redesign in the nine-year history” of the iPad mini.

An increase in screen size has also been rumoured, from 7.9 inches on the previous iPad mini (launched in 2019) to somewhere between 8.5 and 9 inches on this next iteration.

A successor to the 10.2-inch entry-level iPad, code-named J181, with an A13 Bionic SoC (vs the current iPad’s A12 Bionic chip) under the hood is also in the works at Apple, reports 9to5Mac.

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